A lock having a flexible shackle such that the lock can be stored in a tubular housing such as the handle bar of a cycle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,883 to Johnson. Additional prior art, as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,354,675 to Quigg, has provided for a cable lock incorporated into a ski pole and having its ends permanently attached between separable pole portions. A coaxial combination lock selectively permits the handle portion of the pole to be removed so that the midsection of the cable can be wrapped around the poles and skis, after which the handle is reassembled and locked to the pole by the lock mechanism.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,333 to Schwedt et al. provides for a ski pole having a wrist strap with one releasable end and one permanently attached end. An end mounted combination lock on the pole handle allows release and relocking of the releasable end, permitting the wrist strap to serve as a shackle to be wrapped about the remaining equipment.
Another ski pole mounted lock is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,715 to Aylesworth. A cable is permanently mounted by one end within the pole, while the opposite, free end can be freely extended and wrapped around ski equipment. The free end then is engaged and wrapped around ski equipment. The free end then is engaged between telescoping jaws on the pole, which are controlled by a lock carried coaxially on the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,335,585 to Stratton discloses another ski pole lock in which the cable has an enlarged end that is retained within the pole. The second, free end carries a keeper and can be withdrawn through the pole's handle and engaged about ski equipment. Thereafter the keeper on the second end is inserted into a lock carried in the handle and secured.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,899,904 to Brimhall, II, is similar to Stratton, with the additional feature that one ski pole may carry the captive end of the cable, while the second ski pole may carry a lock that received the keeper on the free end of the cable when the cable is engaged about ski equipment.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,687,472 to Stuble, Jr., discloses the use of a hollow ski pole for storage of a cable and cylindrical lock. A cap on the pole's handle covers the storage passage and can be opened to permit the lock and cable to be withdrawn. Otherwise, the cable lock is capable of forming a locked loop around the ski equipment when the lower end of the cable is inserted into the top of the lock. It is proposed that the lower end of the cable be elastically fastened to the bottom of the pole cavity by a retention bungee. Otherwise, it appears that this lock mechanism is not secured within the pole, but merely is housed inside.
From the state of the prior art, it can be seen that cable locks have been incorporated into equipment that stores some or all of the cable and lock. However, most of the prior art locks require some degree of structural alteration to the equipment, which hinders wide usage of such locks unless a manufacturer chooses to incorporate such a lock as part of the original equipment design. Other locks purport to be added with only minor modification of the equipment, and these are the types of locks to which the present invention is addressed.
Another problem is that if the coaxial lock in many of the above designs were to fail, the cable cannot be removed or used. In other designs, even if the cable can be reached, the ski pole or other host item no longer can function as a lock.
Further, if the handle bar of a cycle must be used for storage of a lock, there could be interference with other items such as wiring or cables that might be routed in the handle bar.
So as to eliminate the possibility of interference and the need for special adaptation, it would be desirable to create a cable lock that, at least in one embodiment, requires absolutely no modification to existing tubular storage areas of the equipment.
Further, it would be desirable to create a concealed storage system that employs notoriously vacant tubular members such that the cable lock can be inserted in a streamlined process.
Finally, it would be desirable to create a cable lock that stores in a tube, wherein the lock is free of all varieties of lateral obstructions or protrusions. Such a lock design minimizes the opportunities for interference with the interior of a tube.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the cable lock and concealed storage system of this invention may comprise the following.